Well this is interesting

There's a shop just up the road from me that is a bit quirky, and they sell a bunch of gag stuff and jokes and things like that. But they also have a pretty huge selection of vintage toys and video games, which generally hail from the mid to late 80's.

Well, on the eve of the 2nd biggest test of my life (so far... sigh), I decided I'd take a stroll in there to look at their stuff. I then happen to stumble upon 4 complete original series Ghostbusters (loose, of course), complete with ghosts and proton packs. Each of them costs $35.

Here's my dilemma: I have always planned to get the original 4, as they would undoubtedly be the centerpiece of my Ghostbusters collection. My plans, however, involved saving up and buying them MOC (which would be insanely expensive, obviously, but we're talking about the centerpiece of the collection here), not buying them loose.

So if I buy them loose, and drop $140 in the process, would there still be a reason to buy them MOC? I mean, I guess so, but having 2 of each of them seems a bit much, even for a Ghostbusters freak like me.

I guess we'll have to see how I feel tomorrow after my test. I might head over there again to look at them more closely, and see if they're broken anywhere or anything like that. If not, then this might be something I can't pass up.

Ecto-500, eBay and a Terror Dog

I didn't really get into toy collecting until I discovered eBay. Prior to then, I would buy something here and there at retail, which would satisfy some kind of unnamed craving I refused to acknowledge (for example, I bought a Nexu figure from Star Wars episode II one day while feeling depressed; I didn't like Episode II, and had no attachment to that particular monster... but I needed a toy. Odd, right?).

Well, when I discovered eBay, I discovered that quite literally anything I wanted, I could find (note: not entirely true, but more on that shortly). And so it is, to this day, I will just go on eBay and browse the endless lists of things I want. I found the Ecto Glow Heroes, which was a line of RGB figures I somehow did not even know existed. I found Terrible Teeth, which I originally thought was either a mis-interpretation of having seen a photo of the orange mini-trap or a figment of my imagination. I also found Ecto-500, which my cousin had when we were little kids, and which I coveted intensely. It was such a cool vehicle, and I remember thinking that my cousin did not appreciate all the cool Ghostbusters toys he had. He even had the original 4 figures, which I never did.

So now, I can use eBay to find what I want, right? Wrong. I've been searching, now that my Ghostbusters collection is going to expand to its own shelving (whenever I buy a new shelf...). When I heard NECA was coming out with Ghostbusters figures (circa 2004, before my current toy collecting insanity) I looked for them, but not at many places. I definitely didn't look online. Now that Mattel is releasing such awesome Ghostbusters figures this summer, the NECA figures seem even more appealing. I have Slimer, but that's it. Gozer is available in relative abundance online. But the Terror Dogs-- Zuul and Vinz Clortho-- are nowhere to be found. There is one on Amazon for $60, which seems pretty steep. So what am I to do?

If I get the mini-mates, those will be relatively cheap and found at retail. I'll get Egon at the end of July, and then I've got the new Hot Toys Joker on pre-order; that'll be August. I think it would be reasonable to get a terror dog at some point soon, if I save up for it.

Decisions, decisions.

I have mentally committed

Seeing this photo (from Art Asylum) of the Ghostbusters minimates, in their packaging, has officially committed me to getting them. The packing is far too reminiscent of the old Ghostbusters boxes, and elicits such a happy feeling, that I'm going to have to get them. I might leave them in the boxes; we'll see how they look in person, and on a shelf. Not sure about paying a ton of money on eBay for them, but I'm willing to hit up TRU to see if they're there.

I've got the feeling I get when I'm excited about a new toy: I just want to drop what I'm doing and go out on a hunt. After finishing night float while doing OB/GYN, I used to stop at TRU, Target and Walmart on the way home (probably not safe to be driving after being up all night, but...whatever) to see if they had any new TDK Movie Masters. (In case you're wondering, they didn't.)

In other news, images of the Hot Toys Silk Spectre II have been revealed, and... I'm less than enthused. It's pretty much as I expected: she looks like a brunette Barbie doll in a Watchmen suit. I didn't expect much, and I'd imagine it is pretty difficult to make a female action figure that maintains 1) articulation, and 2) sexual appeal.

Not that I'd buy a female action figure because of its sexual appeal. I'm not that guy. But part of Silk Spectre's character is her (subtle?) abuse of her sexuality, and I think it's an important aspect of the notion of a female superhero that is never really addressed in mainstream comics.

We shall see what Hot Toys can manage to pull off for the other Watchmen figures, however. I'll never say never.

Hot Toys + Watchmen = Oh no

I'm supposed to be studying right now, but instead of doing that, I hit up Toy News International, as I am often wont to do. Lo and behold, Sally Jupiter's kid is sitting right atop the page.

Oh no.

This post will therefore serve as an open letter to Hot Toys.

Dear Hot Toys,
I do not have enough money to buy all of the things you make that I want. I do not collect 12" figures, but yours are so beyond anything else on the market that every time you release something, I'm interested. Now that I've already pre-ordered your Police Joker, I cannot start considering all of the Watchmen you will undoubtedly make. Please, for the sake of my wallet, stop!
Sincerely,
(name removed to protect nerdity)

The thing is, I can't picture what a Hot Toys female body, clothed in very little, would look like. The male true-type body is not something that lends itself to being mostly nude, so I doubt the female body would. But who knows? Perhaps we'll have to wait and see.

But seriously, I can't afford this.<sup>1

1</sup>For now.